alfandri



A. G. ALFANURL LIFE SAVING SUH.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 24, i918.

1,303,144. Patented May 6,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

KW? INVENTOA A. G. ALFANDRI. LIFE SAVING sun.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24. l9l8.

Patented May 6, 1919.

4 SHETSSHEET 2 W INVENTOH PM ATTOHNEYS A. G. ALFANDRl.

LIFE SAVING SUIT.

APPLICATION men )ULY 24. me.

f mm Wmeg MM 5 A M Z en A. G, ALFANDRL LIFE SAVING SUIT.

,. APPLICATKON FILED JULY 24, 191B.

Patenwd May 6, 1919;

A) w Svwentoz mate 514G134 g5 fr UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIonj:

ALBERT G. ALFANDRI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 C. KENYON COMPANY, OF KINGS COUNTY, NEW YORK, A-UORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LIFE-SAVING surr.

Application filed July 24. 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT G. ALIANDRI, a citizen of the United States, residing at 17 0 Vermilyea avenue, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and'useful Improvements in LifeeSaving Suits, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a life-saving suit of the type which is intended to cooperate with a buoyant jacket, or the like, in order to not only maintain the user or wearer thereof afloat, but to also furnish complete pro tection against the freezing effect of the water.

Suits of this type have been proposed for many years, but they all suffer from one or more of a number of defects which prevent their extended use.

The ordinary life preserver which has been heretofore furnished on ocean. liners and other vessels for the protection of passengers, in case the life-boats were not a suflicient protection, was practically worthless as a safety device, because it merely substituted death by freezing for death by drowning, as the bitter cold of a body of water in midwinter, or even at a milder season of the year, would suffice in the course of a few hours to deprive the immersed person of his or her life.

In order to be effectual for the purpose for which it is intended. the life-saving suit of the type herein proposed, must furnish an absolutelytigrht closure because if the water can find entrance at any point whatever, it would speedily fill the space between the garment and thebody of the wearer, which wouldmake the suit worse than useless. On the other hand, this closure must be of so simple a type that it can be readily manipulated by comparatively inexperienced personsin a very short time and nnderthe stress of great excitement. Metal parts also render these suits unsatisfactory because they add to the weight of the garment, disturb'or destroy the balance of the wearer, if the suit is not properly put on, and furthermore render it difiicult to transport or keep such suits in a compactform.

This is highly important especially in the present emergencies resulting. from the attacks by submarines, because it is. important and in "fact absolutely that the suit Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1919.

Serial No. 246.442. i

should be capable of being worn with comparative comfort by the user for many hours at a time, and that the user should be able to eat, sleep, etc, while wearing the suit.

According to my invention a suit can be constructed with a minimum amount of fablie and without any metal parts save eyelets, or the like, which can be worn with comfort, put on readily even by inexperienced persons and which can be manufactured like an ordinary garment and with the useof the same machines and operators so that the cost of production is minimized.

Other objects of my invention will be pointed out in the following description and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof.

Figure 1 is a side perspective View showing the body of the wearer covered withthe body portion of the garment.

Fig. 2 is a front view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front perspective view illustrating the final act of closing the garment.

Fig. Alis a rear view illustrating the first act in effecting the closure of the garment.

Fig. 5 is a front view of Fig. 4:.

Fig. 6 is a rear view'showing the wings of the garment and illustrating the tightness of the closure when the garment is completely closed.

Fig. 7 is a rear detail perspective view showing the closing means for effecting the closure of the garment.

Fig. 8 is'a real-view of the gromet or eyelet through which the closing strap passes, as well as a means for forming a protected joint.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 -9 of Fig.8.- i

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the facing or edging surrounding the face of the user.

The garment consists of a body portion, 1,

having arm portions 2 and 3, leg portions 14 and 15, and feet portions 4: and 5, These feet portions 4, 5 may be provided with heavy lead soles which can be slipped into or out of them for ballast, in order to properly balance the user and maintain him in an upright position when he is immersed in the water. The feet portions 4 and 5 are provided with straps'6 and? having buckles. of any ordinary and well-known type, so that they can be tightly secured upon the feet of the wearer, This the suit is of the ordinary type, and can be made of any rubberized or waterproof fabric, which can also serve to keep the wearer warm.

The front, 9, of the garment can be made integral, or can be united, if desired, with a buoyant jacket or vest, or other garment having a buoyant material such as kapok, or the like, which serves to keep the wearer afloat. If desired, the kapok jacket or can be made separate, and separately worn by the user, as this in itself is not an essential point of my invention. I have not illustrated the kapok acket or any point in connection therewith, as such buoyant means are old and wellknown and in themselves form no part of my invention The top of the body portion of the garment extends into an openin 8, which is sufficiently large to freely admit the person of the wearer. As shown in Figs. 1, 1, 6 and 7, the garment is enlarged at the top of the body portion so as to furnish an opening, 8, of sutlicient size for this purpose, and the surplus material is formed into wings, 11, whose seams are sewed and cemented together as shown in Fig. 7. These are especially efficient in. permitting the opening, 8, to be made of suflicient size, and in taking up the surplus material thus formed, so as to permit a rapid and Bl'fiClQ-llt closure. A hood portion, 31, is connected at the front portion of the opening 8 and is provided with flaps, 16 and 17, at the rear portion thereof, and with a face opening,- 10, at the front thereof, which is surrounded by an edging, 28, which is further illustrated in Fig. 10. As can be seen in Fig. 10. the edging, 28, is doubled upon itself and incloses a strip of felt or other soft material, 32, so as to snugly fit the face of the wearer and prevent the entrance of any water. A pocket having a flap, 26, is provided underneath the hood. Any desired food can be placed in this pocket, which can be closed by the flap, 26, which may be provided with any suitable closing means, such asa snap button or the like, which, like other features well-known. in themselves, are not illus rated in the drawings for the sake of simplicity and because in themselves they form no part of my invention. v

The. means for closing the garment are especially clearly illustrated in Fig. 7. The neck portion of the garment, as can be seen in Fig. 2, is provided with strap portions 60 and 61 which can be connected by means of a buckle and tightly secure the garment around the collar of the wearer, as this garment is designed to be worn over all the customary outer garments, for "the purposes hereinbefore mentioned. As can be seen in Fig. 7, the seam 50 of the right wing, 11, has a strap, 19, sewed thereto at the point 20. This strap, 19, passes around the back of the neck of the wearer, as can be seen in Fig. 4, and then 1,ece,144

passes through the gromet, 18, into the interior of the garment (see Fig. 4.) and emerges therefrom at the lefthand side of the neck of the user through the gromet 30, as can be seen in Fig. 5. These gromets, or eyelets, can be made of metal of any suitable well-known type and to completely protect the joint between the strap 19 and these gron'iets, 35, the fabric 33 adjacent these gromets is reinforced by a strip 34. This is made of rubber and canvas, or equivalent material, so as to be resilient and have a certain amount of stiffness and tightly press against the belt, 19, and form a very tight closure. The belt, l9,-then passes through a buckle, 23, of any ordinary or well known type, which is attached to a short strap, 22, wl'iich is fastened to the seam, 50, of the left wing, 11, as illustrated in Fig. 7. This strap, 22, may be made as short as desired, as it is only a convenient means for securing the buckle, 23, tothe left-hand wing, 11.

The method of closing the garment is as follows: The user first puts on the body portion of the garment and thrusts his arms into the arm portions 2 and 3. He then tightly secures the neck portion of the garment around his neck by means of straps, 60, 61 and their buckle.

He now takes the hood portion, grasping it in any convenient place, and throws the hood back over his head so that his face emerges through the opening, 10, the edging 28 of which is tightly pressed against his head and face.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the belt. 1 has been drawn backward through the buckle 23, so that the entire hood portion loose and can be readily placed over the head of the user.

As shown in Fig. 5 the gromet, 30, is now on the lefthand side of the wearer and the wearer now seizes the strap, 19, at a short distance from this gron'iet and pulls thereon as strongly as he can until it is drawn tight. This causes the right wing, 11, to be pulled into the position shown in Fig. 6, and causes the rigl'it flap, 16, of the hood to be pulled tightly against the fold which is thus formed in the garment, as can be seen in Fig. 4:. Vihen the strap, 19, has been pulled tight, a considerable length thereof hangs down the front of the user, buckle 23 and short strap being still on the left-hand side.

This loop formed by the buckle, 23. short strap, 22, and the strap, 19, is now thrown over the head of the wearer so that, as shown in Fig. 3, the buckle 23 is now on the righthand side of the wearer.

By pulling at the end of the strap. 19, as

wing, 17, to overlap the right flap, 16, and be very tightly pressed thereagainst and against the neck portion of the garment which it also overlaps. The strap, 19, is provided with an enlarged tab, 64., so that it cannot slip out of the buckle, 23.

The closure thus effected is so tight that, as can be seen in Fig. 6, when the wearer kneels. the air between the outer garments and the safety suit is confined in this space and inflates the wings, 11, instead of escaping.

By reason of the features above mentioned, this garment can be made to fit persons in a large variation of sizes, with perfect safety.

When the garment is completely closed, the short strap, 22, at the back of the neck of the wearer is normally underneath the adjacent portion of strap 19.

I have described a preferred embodiment of m y invention, but it is obvious that numerous changes and emissions can be made without departing from its spirit, and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein mentioned.

I claim.

1. A life-saving suit having a body portion adapted to inclose the body of the user, the said body portion being enlarged adjacent to the shoulder portion thereof so as to readily admit the body of the wearer, the surplus material caused by said enlargement being formed into wings at the left and at the right-hand sides of the said suit.

2. A life-saving suit having a body portion adapted to inclose the body of the user, the said body portion being enlarged adjacent to the shoulder portion thereof so as to readily admit the body of the wearer, the surplus material caused by said enlargement being formed into wings at the left and at the right-hand sides of the said suit, the said wings being continued substantially up to the neck portion of the said suit.

3. A life-saving suit comprising a body portion adapted to inclose the body of the wearer, the said suit having an enlarged opening adjacent to the shoulder portion thereof so as to readily admit the person of the said wearer, and a hood portion connected at the front of the said opening, the said hood portion having an opening for the face of the wearer and having wings in the back thereof, and means for tightly closing said wings so as to prevent the entrance of water.

41-. A lifesaving suit having a body portion adapted to inclose the body of the wearer, the said suit being enlarged at the shoulder portion thereof so as to readily admit the body of the wearer, the surplus material caused by the said enlargement being formed into wings at the left-hand side and at the right-hand side of said garment, the said wings extending to the neck portion of the said garment, the said garment having a hood connected thereto at the front part of the said opening, said hood having a face opening for accommodating the face of the wearer and having wings in the back, and means for overlapping said wings at the back of the head of the wearer upon each other and upon the neck portion of the garment, and for holding them in said overlapped position.

5. A life-saving suit having a body portion adapted to inclose the body of the wearer, the said suit having an opening substantially at the shoulder portion thereof for admitting the wearer, a hood connected at the front portion of the said opening, said hood having an opening for accommodating the face of the wearer and flaps at the back portion thereof, a strap connected to one of said wings, gromets in the other of said wings, so that the said strap can be led into the interior of the suit and thence to the exterior of the suit substantially at the side thereof, and a buckle connected to the other of said wings, the said strap being of sufficient length to enable it to be led through the said buckle.

6. A life-saving suit having a body portion adapted to inclose the body of the wearer, the said suit having an opening substantially at the shoulder portion thereof for admitting the wearer, a hood connected at the front portion of the said opening, said hood having an opening for accommodating the face of the wearer and flaps at the back portion thereof, a strap connected to one of said wings, gromets in the other of said wings, so that the said strap can be led into the interior" of the suit and thence to the exterior of the suit substantially at the side thereof, and a buckle connected to the other of said wings, the said strap being of suiflcient length to enable it to be led through the said buckle, the said strap and the said buckle being secured to their respective flaps substantially at the neck portion of the garment.

7. In a life-saving suit adapted to completely inclose the body of the wearer, the combination of a gromet, a strap running through the said gromet and a piece of stiff resilient material having a perforation directly adjacent the said gromet and through which the said strap runs, the said perfora tion being so small and the said material being so resilient, that it tightly presses against the said gromet and all portions of the said strap in contact therewith, so as to form a tight closure.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature;

ALBERT G. ALFANDRI.

Eepies of this patent may be obtained 1'01 five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner o! l'atentl, Washington, D. 0. 

